• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:

    公开号:NL1041424A
    申请号:NL1041424
    申请日:2015-08-11
    公开日:2016-03-15
    发明作者:Jozef Jacques Mayer Mateo
    申请人:Easymeasure B V；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    Method and device for disinfecting water and wet surfaces using LED technology
    The present invention relates to a method and device for disinfecting water and wet water-containing surfaces characterized by a light source consisting of an array of LEDs that produce light in the UVA and / or visible area and a water-containing liquid to be disinfected in which at least one organic component is present from the group of photochemicals. The technology according to the present invention is suitable for disinfecting drinking water and waste water.
    preface
    According to the prior art, water is disinfected by treating water with one or more of the following techniques: 1. Addition of active chlorine, for example by addition of hypochlorite or by means of in situ electrolysis 2. Addition of ozone 3. Exposure of the water to UVC radiation with a wavelength between 250 nm and 300 nm. 4. Exposure of the water to ultrasonic vibrations 5. Exposure of the water to (high-frequency) alternating currents Treatment of water with active chlorine has the disadvantage that harmful by-products are formed. Treatment of water with ozone has the disadvantage that this technique is energy and investment intensive compared to other disinfection techniques. Treatment of water with UVC radiation has the disadvantage that the UVC radiation is scattered or absorbed by particles (turbidity) in the liquid. This fact is disadvantageous in combination with the need to place the UVC source (gas discharge lamp) in a quartz housing and to place this quartz housing in the liquid to be disinfected. This limits the design of UVC reactors with a large radiation-transmitting surface per liter of water to be treated. A second disadvantage of treating water with UVC radiation is that there is no residual activity of disinfectants in the water as soon as the water is no longer irradiated with the UVC source. The use of ultrasonic vibrations and high-frequency alternating currents for water disinfection both have the disadvantage that these techniques use relatively much energy and are difficult to scale up.
    By applying a combination of the disinfection techniques 1 to 5, a synergistic effect can be obtained, it can be ensured that the amount of energy required per m3 of water to be disinfected is lower than in the situation that one of these 5 techniques is applied separately and that is already an improvement on the application of each of the techniques applied separately by different market parties.
    A technology that is in full development involves the production of UVC radiation through LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology. According to the state of the art, it is possible to produce UVC radiation in the range of 250 nm to 270 nm by means of LED technology, but the energy efficiency of such LEDs is still too low, the lifespan of these LEDs still too short and the price of these LEDs is still too high to make the application of UVC LED technology commercially feasible on a large scale.
    In contrast to UVC LEDs, the energy efficiency of LEDs that produce light in the visible area ie, in the range of approximately 380 nm to approximately 780 nm, is very high, the cost of these LEDs low and the service life of the LEDs long ie , usually longer than 50,000 hours. Due to the stormy development of LED technology over the past 10 years, a scale of LEDs is now available that produce light with a specific wavelength in the visible area. In other words, an efficient commercially available LED type can be found for each wavelength in the visible range, i.e. an LED with an emission peak at that desired wavelength. This is also the reason for a recent development to use LED technology as a light source in sensors. For example, by applying an array of LEDs that produce each light of a certain wavelength, a spectrophotometer can be obtained. Unfortunately, the efficiency of visible light (and also UVA radiation) for disinfection purposes is very limited and disinfection of water with LEDs that produce radiation in the visible area is not applied in practice due to lack of efficiency.
    The technology according to the present invention makes it possible to use LEDs that produce light in the visible area for water disinfection. A smart combination of a number of techniques results in both an energy-efficient and cost-efficient (low investment costs, low maintenance) and reliable disinfection method.
    Description of the technology according to the present invention
    In a first aspect, the technology according to the present invention consists of at least one LED and preferably an array of LEDs. In this application an array of LEDs is understood to mean: a number of LEDs that each emit light with the same specific wavelength and / or a number of LEDs or groups of LEDs that emit light with different wavelengths.
    According to a second aspect, the technology according to the present invention consists of at least one and preferably several chemical compounds from the group of photochemicals (photosensitizers). In this application, the group of photochemicals is understood to mean: substances that contain light with a wavelength in the visible region, with a wavelength of approximately 380 nm to approximately 780 nm or near the visible region, UVA radiation with a wavelength of approximately 315 nm up to approximately 400 nm. Non-limiting examples of such photochemicals are methylene blue and erythrosine. These substances can absorb light with a specific wavelength in the visible area and cause the formation of disinfecting chemicals, including but not limited to, atomic oxygen.
    The core of the technology according to the present invention consists of treating water to be disinfected by adding a very low concentration of photochemicals to this water and then treating the water with light obtained from an array of LEDs that produce light with a wavelength in the visible region and / or in the UVA region. For the sake of completeness, it is noted that also UVA gas discharge lamps or halogen lamps can be used in combination with the technology according to the present invention.
    Before going into detail about the specific embodiments that enable application of the technology according to the present invention, a number of advantages of the core of the technology according to the present invention are first listed: 1. The light, ie the electromagnetic radiation, which flows to the water to be transmitted preferably has a wavelength in the range of 350 nm to 780 nm. Compared to UVC radiation, this brings with it the great advantage that both glass and, for example, PM MA plastic are transparent in this wavelength range. This makes it possible to introduce LED light into the reactor from the outside (by means of a transparent reactor wall on which the LEDs are mounted). 2. The photochemicals are effective at a very low concentration, i.e., concentrations in the order of ppm, a few mg of photochemistry per liter, and harmless and even food grade chemicals are commercially available. 3. Light of different wavelengths can be sent through the reactor at the same time and low concentrations of a mixture of photochemicals can be added to the water to be treated. This makes it possible to kill a range of microorganisms at the same time. 4. An unexpectedly large advantage over UVC disinfection appears to be that there is still residual disinfecting activity in the liquid after the liquid has left the reactor (and is therefore no longer exposed to the LED light). Without this having any influence on the scope of the patent, the inventor has the following hypothesis for this phenomenon: During the LED disinfection, oxidizing substances are formed which do not react immediately when the liquid leaves the reactor. 5. Although photochemicals are relatively complex organic molecules, they are easily and at low concentration detectable by spectroscopy in the visible area. After all, the photochemicals according to the definition in the present invention are selected for efficiently absorbing light in the visible area. A major advantage of this is that the dosing of the photochemicals can be optimized via a feedback loop by measuring the concentration of unreacted photochemistry at the outlet of the reactor. This method is explicitly part of the technology according to the present invention. Essential to the efficiency of the technology according to the present invention are the specific embodiments that make it possible to efficiently transfer the light to the water to be treated and / or to use it efficiently. These specific embodiments are now described and explicitly form part of the technology according to the present invention.
    In a first embodiment, a reactor in the form of a geometric beam is used. The reactor is preferably constructed by gluing strips of plastic that are permeable to UVA and visible light (such as PMMA) and / or by gluing strips of glass. It is noted that in particular plastics that are used in horticulture in greenhouses because of UVA permeability, and glass that is used in horticulture, are extremely suitable as construction material for the reactor wall. Strips or surfaces of power LEDs are then applied to the transparent part of the reactor. The light is thus introduced into the reactor from the outside through the transparent reactor wall. The reactor preferably contains a liquid inlet at the bottom and a liquid outlet at the top and is preferably arranged vertically (axial coordinate of the beam, i.e. perpendicular to the floor). The reactor is preferably flowed through from bottom to top with the water to be disinfected. Before the water is pumped into the reactor, at least one photochemical is added to the water to be disinfected. Preferably 2 or more photochemicals are added to the water to be disinfected. The residence time in the reactor is preferably set to less than 10 minutes, more preferably to less than 20 minutes and more than 10 minutes and most preferably to less than 1 hour and more than 20 minutes. The reactor is preferably flowed through in plug flow so that a reliable disinfection is obtained since in that case the residence time of each liquid element in the reactor is the same. To promote this, the reactor is preferably filled with glass marbles and / or glass race rings and / or other glass-packed and / or transparent plastic marbles and / or transparent plastic particles and / or other plastic gaskets.
    In a second embodiment, methylene blue is used as photochemistry in a concentration range of preferably 0.05 mg per liter of water to be disinfected to 50 mg per liter of water to be disinfected and LEDs are used that emit light with a wavelength of 660 nm plus or minus 10 nm. At this wavelength, methylene blue has a strong absorption peak. The LED power (in terms of electrical power absorbed by the power LEDs is preferably about 400 watts per m2 axial wall surface of the reactor if the reactor configuration is selected in the first embodiment. It is noted that considerably higher powers or lower powers are also effective and that the balance between residence time and power of the LED lamps differs per application and can be optimized A second group of LEDs is preferably also used which bring light with a wavelength in the range of 350 nm to 470 nm into the reactor.
    In a third embodiment, erythrocine is used as photochemistry. Erythrocine is preferably used at a concentration of 0.05 mg per liter to 50 mg per liter.
    The LEDs that are used preferably produce blue light with a wavelength of 470 nm. The LED power (in terms of electrical power absorbed by the power LEDs) is preferably about 400 watts per m2 of axial wall area of the reactor if the reactor configuration is selected in the first embodiment. It is noted that considerably higher powers or lower powers can also be effective and that the balance between residence time and power of the LED lamps differs per application and can be optimized. It will be clear to a specialist in the field of water disinfection and water quality that in addition to erythrocyin and methylene blue, other photochemicals are also extremely suitable for use in combination with the technology according to the present invention. The technology according to the present invention is therefore by no means limited to applications in which methylene blue or erythrocine are used as photochemicals.
    In a fourth embodiment, both methylene blue and erythrocine are used as photochemicals (i.e. simultaneously) and LEDs are used that produce light at a wavelength of preferably 660 nm plus or minus 100 nm and more preferably 660 nm plus or minus 100 nm (and at preferably 400 watts of electrical power consumed per m2 of axial reactor surface) and LEDs that produce light at a wavelength of preferably 470 nm plus or minus 100 nm (400 watts of electrical power consumed per m2 of axial reactor surface). For the sake of good order, it is noted that defining light input based on the absorbed electrical power of the applied LEDs is not common. This definition does not take into account the difference in efficiency of the LEDs. However, it appears that the LEDs that produce light of a specific wavelength according to the prior art do not have large differences in light output per watt of electrical power, but often have a considerably different beam angle.
    To avoid confusion and because this patent application concerns an order of magnitude of the electrical power to be used, the power consumption of the LEDs is mentioned.
    In a fifth embodiment, LED panels are used which contain so-called growth lamps for plants. A practical example of such an LED panel is a commercially available LED panel with 119 LED lamps of 1 Watt. The panel has a surface of 40 cm X 21 cm and in this surface there are LEDs that produce light with 5 different wavelengths: 660 nm, 630 nm, 610 nm, 460 nm and 380 nm. The ratio in energy consumption of these LEDs (going from high wavelength to low wavelength) = 79: 6: 14: 18: 2. A very surprising result is that such growth lamps prove to be very efficiently capable of killing bacteria when used in combination with the technology according to the present invention. Application of growth lamps and LED panels with LEDs that emit light of different wavelengths are emphatically part of the technology according to the present invention. The ratio of the LED power of the different LEDs in the growing lamp for plants as well as the wavelengths of the LEDs in the used growing lamp form an explicit part of the technology according to the present invention. However, the scope of the technology according to the present invention is by no means limited to this.
    In a sixth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is applied to water containing humic acids and / or iron ions and / or other metalones or metal oxides. It appears that water with humic acids usually contains photochemicals according to the definition in this application, so that application of the technology according to the present invention leads to disinfection without it being necessary to dose an additional photochemical. Depending on the precise composition of the humic acid-containing water, it may still be necessary to increase the disinfection efficiency by adding a photochemical dose.
    In a seventh embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used for disinfection of waste water. It is noted here that it is first tested whether the waste water already contains sufficient photochemicals, so that addition of methylene blue and / or erythrocine and / or other photochemicals are not necessary.
    In an eighth embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used for disinfection of hospital waste water.
    In a ninth embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used for disinfecting drinking water.
    In a tenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is used for disinfecting liquids in the food industry. It is noted that many foods already contain photochemicals and that, insofar as this does not appear to be the case, food grade photochemicals can be added.
    In an eleventh embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used for disinfecting liquids in horticulture, including greenhouses.
    In a twelfth embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used for disinfecting liquids in animal husbandry, for example for disinfecting drinking water from cattle.
    In a thirteenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with ozone disinfection technology. This can be done by dosing ozone-containing air to the reactor.
    In a fourteenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with a fluidized bed induction reactor. To this end, LEDs that produce visible light are introduced into an induction reactor and supplied with electrical energy through induction. A photochemical is then added to the fluidized bed induction reactor. By induction reactor, this application is understood to be a reactor as described in Dutch patent NL1039616.
    In a fifteenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with ultrasonic disinfection technology.
    In a sixteenth embodiment the technology according to the present invention is combined with high-frequency alternating current disinfection technology (AC disinfection as described in NL1038114.
    In a seventeenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with titanium dioxide technology by adding titanium dioxide to the reactor.
    In an eighteenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with electrolysis.
    In a nineteenth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is combined with UVC disinfection technology.
    In a twentieth embodiment, the light introduced into the reactor is modulated (e.g., a square wave with a frequency of 100 Hz and a duty cycle of 50%). Preferably, the frequency is in the range of 1 Hz to 100 MHz and the duty cycle is in the range of 1% to 99%.
    In a twenty-first embodiment, residues of photochemistry are removed from the treated water by passing this water over an active carbon column. This active carbon column can, if desired, be regenerated from time to time with ozone.
    In a twenty-second embodiment, the technology of the present invention is used to remove drug residues from liquids. This can be done by adding a photochemical or by using certain drugs or drug residues themselves to be photochemicals that decompose at a specific wavelength. In a twenty-third embodiment, the technology according to the present invention is used in combination with a spectrophotometric measurement to determine the concentration of photochemistry in the product stream of the reactor and, based on this measurement, the dosage of photochemicals is added to the water to be disinfected. Preferably, an optional step-next step for oxidation or adsorption of residual photochemicals is also adjusted on the basis of the spectrophotometric measurement of the photochemicals.
    In a twenty-fourth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is used to remove harmful compounds such as drug residues and antibiotics from liquids.
    In a twenty-fifth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is applied to disinfect water on ships including but not limited to ballast water and drinking water.
    In a twenty-sixth embodiment, the technology of the present invention is used in water filtration membrane modules (RO membranes, NF membranes, microfiltration membranes) to prevent biofouling of these membranes. The membrane modules are herein made partly transparent and the array of LEDs is applied to the membrane module according to the technology of the present invention. In an alternative embodiment, the water entering the membrane modules is first treated with the technology of the present invention.
    In a twenty-seventh embodiment, the technology of the present invention is used to illuminate a wet surface with light from the LED array to prevent biofilm formation on the illuminated surface.
    权利要求:
    Claims (13)
    [1]
    An apparatus for purifying a water-containing liquid characterized by • an array of LEDs that produces light with a wavelength in the range of 350 nm to 780 nm wherein the array of LEDs is operatively connected to and mounted on or in a reactor that contains an inlet for disinfected liquid and an outlet for disinfected liquid • a liquid to be disinfected • means for allowing the liquid to be disinfected to flow through the reactor • at least one photochemical present in and / or added to the liquid to be disinfected and which absorbs at least a portion of the light introduced into the reactor by the LEDs to form disinfecting chemical compounds.
    [2]
    2. Device as claimed in claim 1 plus first means for generating an alternating magnetic field in the reactor, second means in the reactor for converting the alternating magnetic field into electrical energy, characterized in that the second means are operatively connected to the array of LEDs in the reactor so that the LEDs are supplied with electrical energy by means of induction.
    [3]
    Device as claimed in claim 2, wherein each LED of the array of LEDs is supplied individually with induction of electrical energy.
    [4]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 3 with at least methylene blue as photochemistry.
    [5]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 4 plus a spectrophotometric sensor for determining the concentration of photochemistry in the product stream of the reactor and means for adjusting the dosage of the photochemistry by means of a feedback loop.
    [6]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, plus an active carbon column for removing residual photochemicals from the purified water-containing liquid.
    [7]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, plus an ozone generator.
    [8]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6 for the purification of ballast water from ships.
    [9]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6 for removing antibiotics and medicine residues from water.
    [10]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6 for disinfecting liquids in horticulture.
    [11]
    Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims 1 to 6 for disinfecting liquids in animal husbandry.
    [12]
    Device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 6 as pre-purification of water which is fed to a membrane filtration for further purification.
    [13]
    A method for purifying a water-containing liquid characterized by a device according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 12.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    NL1041424B1|2016-08-24|
    NL1040874A|2015-08-27|
    NL1041426B1|2016-08-24|
    NL1040874B1|2016-08-24|
    NL1041426A|2016-03-15|
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    US20210061679A1|2019-08-26|2021-03-04|Crystal Is, Inc.|Periodic uvc dosing|
    法律状态:
    2020-05-08| MM| Lapsed because of non-payment of the annual fee|Effective date: 20190801 |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    NL1040687|2014-02-26|
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